I am bored. The weather has been horrendous, rain just about every day followed by freezing overnights and cold days. Having said that, this guys seems eager to get into wood so I thought I would spend some time with him and try and help him out. Besides, he is one of the rarer people that came on here and tried vs. just coming on here and wanting spoon fed. He seemed to be on the right track so I thought I would try and get him “sorted” as the English say.
This week is going to be the first week in the 70’s and we aren’t getting rain. So my field will be about 2’ high by Friday. April showers bring May zero turns and tractors.
Thank your for the compliment. If it wasn’t for guys like you on this forum telling me to read more and experiment I wouldn’t know half of the things I do now, and I come back here to learn new stuff all the time. Displacedtexan told him what I would have, this deck would have been in the thousands.
Here’s a recent deck project I tackled for a friend. They were looking to squeeze out another year or two before completely overhauling it with Trex decking. Given the deck’s rough condition and their future plans for replacement, I saw it as a chance to experiment and potentially, probably not, offer this as a service in the future.
My friend figured the deck had been coated with Behr Deckover solid stain/paint by the previous owner, since there was a half-used gallon in the garage. After researching online and consulting forums, I followed a method similar to the one recommended by @Dirtyboy.
I opted for HD80 Wood Stripper after reading positive reviews. It seemed better suited for tackling solid stains compared to other products available locally at the big box stores. Everything I was reading online said to mix 1 cup per 1 gallon… despite having read that multiple times, the instructions for the 2 lbs. container I bought, suggested mixing the entire contents with 5 gallons (32 oz to 4 gallons vs. 32 oz to 5 gallons), the resulting solution ended up leaving some stain residue behind in spots so I suspect that the mix was a little weak. Since I used up all of the HD80, I ran to the orange box store and grabbed their stripper… it had little to no effect on the remaining stains. So I would highly recommend HD80, used at the stronger ratio, for removing solid stains. Unfortunately because of the stubborn nature of the Behr stain and the weaker concentration of stripper, I had to apply more pressure than desired in areas, leading to some furring.
To address this, I rented a random orbital sander from the orange store, and with the help of some 60 and 80 grit paper everything smoothed out. After sanding, I blew off the surface and allowed it to dry for a few days. Finally, I applied a semi-solid oil-based stain using a lambswool pad.
Overall, I’m not thrilled with the results, but content with it being my first go at it… more importantly though my friend and his wife were delighted with the refreshed look of their deck so I guess thats what matters most. However, I learned some valuable lessons from the experience and would make adjustments in my approach if I were to undertake a similar project in the future.
When you cut in edges you need to make sure to stagger how far out you cut in. The way you did it, you left a clear line across the entire wall where you cut in and it sticks out like a sore thumb. You did the same thing a few feet out from the edge when you started staining the floor. I prefer to stain one or two boards at a time and do the full length of the board to avoid those stop/start lines. You want the coating to be even across the entire surface with no visible lines or splotches.
Big props to you for trying your hand at something new. Staining isn’t for everyone but should you decide you want to pursue it there is very good money in it if you’re talented.
Overall no bad, except for like William mentioned. I’m sure they’re happy with it. How many hours did you have in the project and actual cost of supplies and material not counting labor? Good training for you though.
If they were truly looking for a 2-3 year solution, I would have hit with a couple of coats of HW mix, run my surface cleaner over, let dry and comeback with a somewhat similar color coat of the Deck Over. Decks like that, exactly what it’s made for.
What did the sds of that product say it was? Probably sodium or potassium hydroxide, with maybe a butyl boost or some metasilicate. Buy the chems online, soo much cheaper. If you were in a rush I get it, but a couple of pounds of potassium hydroxide and acid on hand doesn’t cost much and they can be used for cleaning other things.
If it was the original deckover and not the newer version of it, my experience says that the only way to remove it is the diamabrush .Most of those decks are gone now, but you might run across it.
Nice first job, I’m sure they were happy as it looks better. Do what displacedtexan said to do and don’t be afraid to flood the surface of the wood with some stains. If you sparingly use most stains it may look splotchy. I flood it, whether rolling/back brushing or spraying/back brushing and then after a bit I do a towel shimmy (under my feet) across the deck to get the excess off. I normally use semi transparent because the pigments in some semi solid stains don’t completely adhere or drive into the wood and people can end up tracking it into their home. Depends on the product.
nice job. SSE chestnut? I think I see some orange in it but that might just be the lighting. If not maybe sierra by the texas guys. Not thinking mahogany.
Well, wanna fill me in? Inquiring minds and all that.
I’m a little giddy, got to weedwhack, push mow, did some tilling, but geez going from 50’s and misty rain to 75 and sunny is a hard transition. Probably die tomorrow supposed to be 82 and sunny and we are putting in a pool. Man needs a little time to acclimate to warm weather.
Yes, I figured that out after I completed that section and it wasn’t “blending” while it dried out a bit… luckily they have a ton of stuff going back on the deck, area rug, furniture, and planters etc, so it hopefully isn’t going to stick out as much once everything gets put back.
5 hours to strip
2ish hours to sand
2 hours to stain
90 minutes for running back and forth to the store
So 10.5 hours total
Costs:
HD80 stripper - $37.61
Oxalic - $8.36
Deck Sander - $65.52 (4 hour rental)
Sanding Pads - $63.66
Stain - $87.58
Brush and Sheepskin Pad - $15.98
Gas - $15.32
Insurance - $3.50
Materials/Supplies total: $297.36, I made a little bit, but nowhere near my hourly rate for house washing/concrete cleaning.
We had originally talked about just cleaning it, but they really hated the Deckover texture/color/etc. I did run my surface cleaner on it, again just to see what it would do knowing that there was really no recourse not to try it out.
That sounds right, but I no longer have the container and can’t seem to find the info online.
That particular one is SSE Pecan and yeah the lighting was a little funky with the trees casting shade and daylight poking through. Looks a bit “richer” in person than the pictures show.
I feel that! The huge swings we’ve had the last few weeks have my allergies flared up and as soon as I get over that I’ll be dealing with heat stroke. Gotta love it.
got my butt kicked today. It was friggin 86. I can’t do that transition from 55 to 86 while doing manual labor. Everyone was dying at the job. That vinyl pool liner we put in in the am got real spicy in about 10 minutes. then we went and did some digging. Told him he had it backwards, dig in the cool morning then do liners.
Pecan, that was the one I couldn’t think of. It looks nice though. I got a 2 story stairway to do, not looking forward to it. Just a clean and stain using SSE, she hasn’t picked a color yet. my pool buddy is going to help, then I will be smiling when he is on the ladder 20’ up. I will ask him if he needs water after he gets to the top of the ladder.
I’ll take all the wisdom I can get @Dirtyboy! Sorry for the late response. Had a brand spankin new baby on the weekend and set the lobster gear and had 6 jobs to do after a week of advertising just on Facebook! And wouldn’t ya know, my first job was on a aluminum sided home with new galvalum roofing… nerves were a bit shot, but with all the great info from this forum I took it step by step and had a successful clean, 2600sqft home and 26 windows cleaned. I’m all in now.
As for the dreadful aunt deck I squeezed in a few hours of sanding it’s 90% done. Have a small house wash tomorrow and plan to put a few hours in to finish it off and I’ll update with some pictures. Hopefully stain this weekend or next. Have been reading a lot about staining methods, hope to utilize that knowledge when I lay the muck on the wood.
Once again appreciate all the help. Hope I can be half as helpful to someone as you all were to me one day.
Hey @Racer …does this qualify as a deck you’d use the surface cleaner on? Untreated cedar and they don’t plan on doing anything to it. They want it prettied up and less slippery. They were even talking about not using SH at all
Never tried on cedar, but it’s harder than pine. Try in on a little section and see. Just don’t let you SC sit in one spot. . I see a little landing at bottom of steps, if that cedar too, try it there. But I think it should be fine… The ones I do though, are usually in worse shape.
My first deck job to a “real” customer. I was nervous but followed most of the advice here. Unsealed pt pine, not cleaned in 10 yrs. Thanks to everyone that shared their experiences on here. Rick I added a “pinch” of sodium hydroxide as you suggested in your original post…
What do you guys think? Anything else I could have tried or done differently? WET-Housewash mix+Hydroxide/ pressure rinse Oxalic and rinse again …
